There are basically two things I figured Rand Paul would be good for in the U.S. Senate. First, he’d be a major skeptic about foreign military intervention and ask tough questions before the Senate signed off on any more adventures. Second, he’d be an ally on most civil liberties issues, perhaps including the War on Drugs. But in his first two real tests he’s been a failure. Does anyone remember Paul getting any national attention during the run-up to intervention in Libya? And, now, during the debate over the Patriot Act reauthorization, he made an effort but gained no allies on the Democratic side other than the two senators from Montana. Why? Because he chose to be an extremist.
A senatorial peacock with a rust-colored crown, Mr. Paul stands out as someone who, at least for now, seems to be here less to make laws than points. His libertarian-leaning amendments — one would have made it harder for counterterrorism investigators to obtain firearms records and another would have relieved banks from their duty to report suspicious transactions — failed by wide margins, even among Republicans.
He should have joined with senators like Ron Wyden and Mark Udall who have been warning of a secret Patriot Act within the Patriot Act, where the administration is interpreting the law more broadly than the legislative language can justify. He should have latched on to truly controversial aspects of the bill, like the roving wire tap provision and the business record authorizations. Instead, he got four votes for one amendment and ten votes for the other. And he earned the wrath of his colleagues who had their vacation plans disrupted so they could stay in town to debate Paul’s vanity.
On the issues that Paul really cares about, he doesn’t have majority support in either party, so, for him to be successful, he really needs to work hard on building strong personal relationships. Only through earning the good will of a lot of Democrats and the trust of most Republicans, can he ever hope to pass the kinds of bills he wants to pass. On civil liberties issues, with the exception of gun control, the Democrats are his more natural allies. On the Patriot Act, there is much more skepticism on the Democratic side of the aisle than the Republican side.
Instead of focusing on building relationships and finding areas of common concern, Paul just pissed off virtually the entire Senate and accomplished nothing. It’s not an auspicious start for a new senator.
